Partial Payment Notification

[Jim-and-Sue0]

If a guest opts to use the partial payment option, is the host notified that they have only paid a portion of the fee?  Does it show anywhere what has been paid and when the balance is due?

[Ana1136]

@Jim-and-Sue0 no we don't get notified but it doesn't even matter. We get the full payout 24h after check in not depending on the way the guest used to pay. 

[Jim-and-Sue0]

It does matter to me.  Since I am 3000 miles away from my property, I don't want to send check-in details to a guest until they have paid the full amount.  

[Ana1136]

@Jim-and-Sue0 you should send your check in details 2-3 days before arrival anyway and by that time the guests that pay partially will have paid for sure. 

[Jim-and-Sue0]

Most guests want information much futher ahead the a few days.  When we rent through other services or directly we send our information out 30-45 days before arrival so gets can use the information while they plan for their trip.  This is often a once in a lifetime trip for our guests and they want to know everything in their planning stages.

We also want to our guest to have the information ahead of time so that we can respond to any questions or special arrangements they may need.

Guess we just have a different approach than other AirBnB owners.

[Ana1136]

@Jim-and-Sue0 guests already have the exact address the moment they book, I don't see how the check in details ( I am guessing you have a lock code) will help them plan for their trip months in advance. We are only talking about the check in details here, you can give them the details for the surrounding anytime, they can google it anyway with the exact adress. 

[Sarah977]

@Jim-and-Sue0  No, I don't think there is anywhere that hosts see this information. I did have a reservation that wasn't showing properly on my calendar- it was the only reservation that didn't show the price the guest had paid attached to it. So I contacted Airbnb to find out why. It turned out that it just wasn't displaying properly on my calendar- it was actually there, but run off the dge of the calendar and I had to reduce the view of my calendar page significantly to see it. But in the course of the conversation with CS, they told me the guest had chosen the half-up-front option (they probably weren't supposed to tell me that). So then I looked around on all my hosting pages to see if it was indicated anywhere that the guest had chosen this option, but I didn't see that info anywhere.

[Jim-and-Sue0]

Sarah977

Thank you for your response which is a clear answer to my question without questioning my rental procedures and practices.

[Robin4]

@Jim-and-Sue0 

Hello guys, the procedure with the 'Pay less up front' scheme is, the guest on the check-out page will be offered the option to pay the entire amount at the point of booking or, the option to pay 50% of the total amount on booking and the remaining 50% 10 days before the stay is to take place.

The host will not receive notification as to which payment option the guest has elected to use but, if the guest fails to make the second payment when Airbnb tries to claim it, the guest will be given 24 hours to complete the second payment, and if after that time payment has not been successful the host will be informed by email that the reservation has collapsed due to non payment and the guest will be refunded as per the hosts cancellation policy.

Now I know you are going to say this is not fair, and it is being looked into at the moment to try and find a better solution, but that is the way it stands at the moment.

Cheers......Rob

[Suzanne302]

Thanks for clarifying @Robin4 . I knew it was somewhere around the two week mark, but couldn't remember.

[Suzanne302]

@Robin4  Actually, I just checked. The second payment IS 14 days prior to the check-in date.

[Amanda1909]

So what if I paid a partial payment and the rest isn't due until May. Will i recieve the address when the rest of the payment is taken or will i recieve it when we leave out for the trip? I'm asking because this is my first time going thru Airbnb and just want to make sure everything is legit..

[Suzanne302]

@Jim-and-Sue0  As @Sarah977  already answered there does not seem to be a way to know this. However, it can affect you if you need to request money prior to check-in!

I charge a pet fee and require it to be paid prior to check-in, but I can't request that money via the Resolution Center until the guest has paid in full. That happens two weeks prior to check-in.

That's the only way I find out is when I go to the Resolution Center and attempt to request the money, it tells me I can't because the guest hasn't paid in full.

[Sarah977]

@Suzanne302  I think the time varies as to when their second payment is taken- when Airbnb told that my guest had chosen the half up front option, I asked when he would need to complete payment. The rep said 5-10 days before check-in. Not that we can trust that any CS rep is giving out correct info.

[Suzanne302]

@Sarah977  I just checked my records and each time it's been 14 days prior to the check-in date. Those reps are clueless.